Lot Essay
The 'Pseudo-Guardi' is the working name given to a group of varied and diverse floral still lifes which were initially identified as the work of Francesco Guardi. Records are unclear about Guardi's still life production and while several alternative attributions have been suggested for this group (including Francesco Duramano or Carlo Henrici, artists working in the late eighteenth century), recent scholarship has also suggested that some of the most exuberant paintings within this group were, at the very least, executed under the direct supervision of Francesco Guardi himself.